Project Summary/Abstract Diseases of hearing, balance, and other communication disorders can be devastating, because they decrease or prevent social interaction and well-being. Washington University School of Medicine has an established reputation for outstanding basic biomedical, clinical, and behavioral health sciences research. Recently, the university expanded its training and education opportunities in entrepreneurship, research innovation, technology transfer, and dissemination and implementation science. The rationale for the renewal of this long-standing and successful training program is to address the enormous challenges that physician-scientists face today, including the rapid growth and pace of new knowledge discovery, the boom-or-bust nature of grant-funding cycles, the growing chasm between practicing clinicians and biomedical scientists, and the failure to incorporate women into research careers at a level reflective of the number of women who complete medical school. With this competitive renewal, a greater emphasis will be placed on translational science, which recognizes Washington University?s new and exciting entrepreneurial culture of startup companies, its commercialization of biotechnology, and its increased focus on dissemination and implementation research. The overall goals of the Otolaryngology T32 Training Program are as follows: (1) To introduce outstanding predoctoral medical students to the excitement and challenges of research in an effort to stimulate an interest in research as part of their future career goals; and (2) To train postdoctoral otolaryngology residents in the techniques of research so that they may compete successfully for research awards and assume leadership roles in academic medicine. The Specific Aims of the Otolaryngology T32 training program are as follows: (1) To provide mentored research experience with faculty who are conducting clinically relevant basic, clinical, translational, or behavioral research related to deafness and other disorders; (2) To provide didactic core and elective coursework opportunities to ensure that trainees acquire in-depth knowledge related to relevant research techniques; and (3) To provide curricula, seminars, workshops, and tutorials that focus on topics related to professional development skills. The successful completion of these aims will result in increased numbers of diverse and well-trained physician-scientists who will lead the multidisciplinary research teams of the future. The training program will appoint two predoctoral medical students and four postdoctoral otolaryngology resident physicians each year. All trainees will receive training in the responsible conduct of research. Formal evaluation of trainees and mentors will be performed, and all trainees will be tracked to assess outcomes.